Turducken from scratch?

From the Master himself:

http://www.chefpaul.com/site.php?pageID=300&view=186

His cornbread recipe as a stand-alone, is my favorite go-to cornbread.

The process looks intimidating but it's not.

CBA, do you plan on smoking this Turducken? I was just doing some reading on the forum about smoking my TG turkey and I remember Smokin and a few others don't recommend smoking a stuffed turkey because of the danger zone of the temps inside a stuffed bird taking way too long to cook in the low smoker temps (even at 300 I guess).

You probably already know this, just thought it couldn't hurt to mention. try looking up Smokins Turkey 101, which again, I bet u have already read.

Vicki

Vicki adding the dressing just adds to my danger zone concern.

I checked out the link Max listed and it looks good, but it says to bake at 225 for 8 hours

That’s where I’d smoke it, but that seems like a long time at a low heat for a stuffed bird.

I did contact chef Paul for clarification I’ll let you know what I find out

Reference someone who has done many things ONCE to prove they could do it.

It can be done and the other foolhardy friends can still share the tale.None can figure why others would care to do it.
You are working with smaller/more managable products.

We have also built them and roasted at higher conventional temps-to prove we could.
Since then,at occasions we wished people to remember the uniqueness of the meal,rather than the fine dining experience, we have ordered them from Cajun country.They were well made,we followed instructions,and after a few times have developed a few tricks that made them "more presentable".

Yes,over the years,attendees may still remark about the dining experience-along with other sometimes unique samplings at our events.

I don't remember anyone remarking that it was such a great experience that they think they would do one the next year.

Just a couple of thoughts.

What's the concern about 4 hours?

Do each one separtely, leaving the others in the Fridge to remain cold. Put the newly deboned one immediately back in the fridge to get cold. Repeat steps for all three.

If you're really worried, go outside on a cold night and do it all at the lowest air temp possible. Yeah, really. I do mine in the walking sometimes if one is available.

I contacted Chef Paul Prudhomme's about my concerns last week and Sean called me today to discuss the issues I raised about the 40 to 140 rule, food safety in general, and the use of cure #1 or #2 affecting the taste

Sean agreed the 40 to 140 rule is a legitimate concern that they do not take lightly, and it is pushed to the limit on something this big, however, there are precautions to be taken

We spent a little time talking about what the danger zone was and the growth rate of bacteria in the danger zone.

Not only was it obvious Sean was well versed on food safety, he could discuss it without talking over a person’s head. An excellent quality in my book

He assured me that not only have they safely prepared their turducken recipe numerous times so have countless others

As Smokin suggested, each ingredient is cooled as fast as possible and kept refrigerated if it isn’t being worked on at the moment.

The temp probe must be long enough to reach the very center of the stuffing to insure it reaches 165

They do not advocate using brine or any cure on the birds so there isn’t a need to be concerned about a hammy taste.

One really good suggestion Sean made was to practice deboning roughly 8 chickens and using them for something else to get the method down pat quickly prior to attempting a turducken

My conversation with Sean went a long way at putting me at ease with the turducken recipe.

I already know it’s too late for a turducken to make its debut for our Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner may be a stretch, but I am beginning to gain enough confidence to attempt one at some point

Like Tom, attendees to our holiday meals have grown accustom expecting unique dinning experiences and, at least for me, it is becoming difficult to stay ahead of the curve